Inside the world of Hollywood and the animation industry. All images (c) and trademark Kevin MacLean and/or their respective owners.It is forbidden to download, copy, distribute and/or reproduce any of these images or text without prior permission of the copyright holders.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

One of my hobbies is collecting autographs and photos with various celebrities. I really like meeting people from old Hollywood. Above you see me with Tony Anselmo and Bill Farmer, the voices of Donald Duck and Goofy. Here we have several cast members from the classic 1960's "Batman". Top: Adam West (Batman), Middle: Lee Meriwether(Catwoman), Burt Ward (Robin), Bottom: Yvonne Craig (Batgirl). Lou Ferrigno, The Incredible Hulk. This picture with Morgan Fairchild was taken just the other week. Jane Russell, star of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", seen above with Marilyn Monroe. Kathryn Grant Crosby, former wife of Bing Crosby and star of my favorite Ray Harryhausen film, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".

Friday, July 20, 2007

Here we have a few more photos from my first job in the animation industry. You can see the crew below, from the right going counter clockwise: Gary Bialke(an amazing character designer/sculptor), Meredith Gill, Bartek Prusiewicz, Kevin MacLean, Adel, and a teacher whose name escapes me. We were creating a clay cartoon for Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.Another animator on the crew, Joel Brinkerhoff, can be seen below, second from the right. http://joelbrinkerhoff.blogspot.com/ This area of the studio was called "Clay 3". It was right off the shooting stages and as you can see, not very organized. This is where we would sculpt the characters and get them ready for the camera. The shelves on these desks were filled with old clay characters from past Vinton productions. It was a fun place to wander around in.

Monday, July 02, 2007

I was talking to my Mom on the phone and mentioned that it was exactly 10 years ago today that I was hired at Will Vinton Studios. It's amazing how fast it all goes by. The pimple faced teenager above is me working on my first professional project. It was a flat clay on glass educational film for Disney, directed by John Logue.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

These photos were taken this weekend at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. The area was bought by Paramount Studios in the 1920's and it is now a 466-acre public park. Countless westerns have been shot here over the years. There is a standing western town set that visitors can explore. This area was used to film the tv show, "Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman". Chris Bancroft and Kevin at the town Grocery. The area is still used for filming. While we were there some location scouts were walking around talking about the shots that they needed to film. If you're interested in visiting, just take the 101 North from LA to the Kanan Rd. off ramp. Turn left on Kanan and go South until you reach Cornell Rd. Take a left onto Cornell and go about two and half miles to Paramount Ranch Rd. Take a right and follow the road into the Ranch. All the doors were locked unfortunately. Chris found a pair of false teeth on a window ledge. He wouldn't put them in his mouth, but kept it as a souvenir.